. >>> on the international scene, russia has granted former nsa contractor edward snowden temporary asylum and his lawyer says after about a month in hiding, snowden has, in fact, finally left that airport. snowden wanted by the united states on charges under the espionage act. nbc's jim maceda has more from moscow. >> reporter: american fugitive, edward snowden, was into his sixth week inside the transit lounge of the airport here in moscow. it seemed to be lining up he would spend more time there until today it was confirmed by snowden's lawyer that snowden was issued temporary asylum in russia. when asked where snowden was going, he said he would not say, citing security reasons. now, a top russian official said that the snowden incident was insignificant, from the kremlin's point of view, and he hope it is would not damage relations already strained with the united states. washington is apparently crafting a response and certainly, this is going to come as discouraging news. but it might mean that all bets are off for a key summit meeting to take place here in moscow in early september